Jack Dean Staats

Funeral services for Jack Staats will be 11:00 a.m. Friday, May 22, 2026, at the Salt Fork Event Center with Pastor Taylor Anderson officiating. Burial will follow in the Alva Municipal Cemetery under the direction of Marshall Funeral Home of Alva. There will be a visitation with family present from 5-7:00 p.m., Thursday, May 21, 2026 at Marshall Funeral Home. Jackie “Jack” Dean Staats, born December 15, 1951, to Clarence Wilbur and Majel Marie (Gonser) Staats and passed away May 19, 2026. He dedicated nearly five decades of his life to shaping the future of agricultural youth, serving as a high school instructor, the State FFA Advisor, and a university educator. Growing up on a farm and ranch between Laverne and Buffalo, Oklahoma, Staats was immersed in agriculture and FFA from an early age, serving as president of his local chapter. After studying at Panhandle State University and eventually graduating from Oklahoma State University with a degree in agricultural education, he began a classroom legacy that spanned 34 years. He touched countless lives as an ag teacher at Freedom High School from 1973 to 1976, at Buffalo High School from 1976 to 1977, and, most notably, during his thirty-year tenure at Alva High School from 1977 to 2007. On May 15, 1982, he was united in marriage to Delana McAnelly at Freedom, Oklahoma. To this union three children were born: Colby, Chelsea, Ciera. In 2008, Staats transitioned to state leadership, taking on the role of program manager for agricultural education and Oklahoma State FFA Advisor at the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education. For 12 years, he guided thousands of Oklahoma blue-jacketed members, instilling the values of leadership, personal growth, and career success until his retirement from the state office in the spring of 2020. His commitment to training the next generation of agricultural leaders didn’t end with retirement. In the fall of 2020, Staats joined the faculty at Northwestern Oklahoma State University as the William Donald Campbell Family Chair in Agriculture, drawing on his extensive experience to recruit, mentor, and prepare the next generation of classroom-ready ag educators. Throughout his storied career, Staats earned the highest respect of his peers nationwide, culminating in his induction into the Oklahoma CareerTech Hall of Fame and receiving the prestigious National FFA VIP Citation in 2021. Jack Staats leaves behind a monumental legacy that will continue to live on through the hundreds of agricultural educators he trained, the thousands of students he inspired, and the enduring strength of the Oklahoma FFA Association. He was preceded in death by his parents, Clarence and Majel Staats. Jack is survived by his wife, Loni Staats of Alva; his son, Colby Staats and his wife, Kentra, of Blanchard; his daughters, Chelsea Staats of Enid and Ciera Stewart and her husband, Chris, of Alva; his grandchildren, Easton and Kyler Staats, Austynn and Jaxson Puckett, Sage, Jentrey, and Tynleigh Stewart; other relatives and many, many friends. Memorial contribution may be made through the funeral home to Jack Staats Permanent Trust. Please make checks out to Oklahoma FFA Foundation and in the memo put Jack Staats Permanent Trust.

Jack Dean Staats

December 15, 1951 - May 19, 2026